As-applied challenge succeeds in PA

Posted by David Hardy · 14 July 2016 08:44 AM

Joshua Prince discusses the result in Keyes v. Lynch (M.D. Pa.). Plaintiffs were two individuals who had been subject to brief mental commitments ten years ago, one of whom subsequently served in the military and is currently employed as an (armed) law enforcement officer. The State courts lifted (sort of) the State bar on gun possession, but the Federales ruled that that didn't affect them. The court upholds that determination, but holds that barring firearm possession by plaintiffs would violate the 2A as applied.

"What is most striking about Mr. Yox's as-applied challenge, though, is the fact that he has been authorized to possess and use, and has in fact possessed and used, firearms while he served in the military and while he worked as a state correctional officer in Pennsylvania. Indeed, Mr. Yox used fully automatic rifles, machine guns, grenade launchers, and incendiary grenades while serving in the 82nd Airborne of the United States Army. Again, Defendants have submitted no evidence that Mr. Yox misused firearms or acted in a dangerous manner in those professional capacities. Thus, the record indicates that throughout his adulthood, despite his personal firearms disability due to § 922(g)(4), Mr. Yox has possessed and used firearms in his professional capacity without incident."